More than 2,600 without power at height of outage in southwest Columbia; caused by problem with substation transformer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Crews restored power Monday evening to hundreds of Columbia Water and Light customers left without electricity on a scorching late-summer afternoon.
At one point around 5 p.m., the city’s outage map showed more than 2,800 electric customers in the southwest part of the city didn’t have power. By 5:40 p.m., that number was down to about 300.
The outage affected more than 900 customers in one neighborhood west of Scott Boulevard at the height of the incident, while multiple outages were reported along Fairview Avenue.
At the intersection of West Broadway and Fairview Road the traffic light was out completely. Cars lined West Broadway all the way to Stadium Boulevard. By 6 p.m. the light had been temporarily fixed to flash red so cars could yield.
Columbia Water and Light wrote on its social media that the problem was with a transformer at the Perche Creek substation.
Magda Mello, an impacted resident, said her power was out for about an hour.
“They said when that got resolved they will call me back and they did right away. Within an hour after I first experienced, the power got restored,” Mello said.
As of Aug. 5th, $2.6 million worth of Perche Creek Substation replacements and upgrades were waiting for delivery. ABC 17 News reached out to the city to see if possible installation of the upgrades had anything to due with the power outage.
A years-long conversation has also surrounded a $35 million transmission line project that would connect the Perche Creek Substation to the Grindstone Substation. It was originally approved in 2015 and expected to take eight to 10 years.
Pushback over the path the line would take has stalled any movement forward. The Water and Light Advisory Board wants the Columbia City Council to consider a route across Nifong Boulevard, Vawter School Road and up Scott Boulevard.
The electrical strain continues to layer on thicker. City council members will vote at the Sept. 8th meeting to approve an additional $6 million dollars for the city’s purchase power account.
City documents said the money would ensure the city’s utility can meet ongoing power obligations by MISO, which oversees the Midcontinent Electric Power Grid.
Click here to follow the original article.